From the Hungarian Wikipedia page [1]
Circumstances of its formation[]
Changes in the Soviet Union[]
The Petofi Circle was founded in March 1955 . This is the period after the death of Stalin, the Soviet dictator, in 1953 , when the communist system attempted to rid itself of the legacy of the personal cult introduced by the Stalinist model in other communist bloc countries . However, these changes did not affect the very essence of communist rule, only certain methods of exercising power and the positions of groups at the peak of power, so that those who opposed communism could not be satisfactory from the outset.
Political changes in Hungary[]
To officially condemn the personal cult, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) on the 20th. Congress took place in 1956 in February, the block states, however, including Moscow, too, even years after the death of Stalin major political changes have occurred. The result of these changes in 1953 was the transformation of the Hungarian Communist Party under Soviet pressure, the bloody leadership of the MDP formerly dictated by Mátyás Rákosi, and the prime minister becoming the most popular communist Imre Nagy.
However, the period of easing proved to be temporary. Imre Nagy's supporters gathered in the Petofi Circle after an attack on the Prime Minister and the changes he introduced in 1955 began in Moscow and within the MDP . Imre Nagy was deprived of his state and party duties in April, and was even expelled from the party in December.
At the same time, the rebuilding offended the interests of the "revisionist communists" led by Imre Nagy and the non-communist masses of Hungarian society - laying the foundations for an ideologically astonishingly mixed social coalition that became the main force of the 1956 Revolution.
Within the coalition, the intellectual leaders of the Petofi Circle belonged to revisionist communists rather than to those demanding democracy. Their goal was to bring Imre Nagy back to the revolution, so from October 24, 1956 , there was no longer any sense of further escalation and revolution. The demands of the Circle, however, were surpassed by events before October 23, some of the time when the students of the MEFESZ first openly called for later free elections.
The formation of the Circle[]
The idea of creating the Circle appeared at the beginning of 1955 , but at that time no one had thought of a movement that might have diverged from the official line. The idea was to create a debate for young communist intellectuals within the DIS Communist Youth League . The leaders of the DISZ chose the experienced youth communist, Gábor Tánczos , to be the leader of the Circle, who was a follower of Imre Nagy, but was expected to be able to stop as a "Marxist" to break his "civic" and "national" thoughts.
The Petofi Circle was established in March 1955 , but its real task, however, was to organize open debates only in the XX. after his congress.
Dancer, the secretary has given much more room for debate than originally conceived in the DISZ. He practically did no more than organizing, barely speaking, and at the gatherings of the Circle missed the lengthy and meaningless opening words of the era. He even afforded to organize a Yugoslav literary evening in April 1956 - a heresy in the years when the Soviet bloc and Yugoslavia were at a low point.
Relations with Imre Nagy[]
As the historian János Rainer M. writes, Imre Nagy hardly met the Petofi circles. “Imre Nagy did not control the Petofi circle, contrary to what he was later accused of in the lawsuit. Until the fall of 1956 he did not meet with the directors of the Petofi circle, Gábor Tánczos, Balázs Nagy, András Hegedűs B. and others. The orientation of the Petofi circle was realized by the fact that there were mediators, Géza Losonczy , Miklós Vásárhelyiand others who have liked to say that the old man, as Imre the Great called it, thinks about this or that question, and of course it worked backwards. Imre Nagy, as a person excluded from the party, would have found it profoundly impartial to appear at the Petofi Circle event, whatever the matter… ”
Circle operation until banned[]
His first public event was only in 1956 . The Petőfi Circle held it on 17 March . Between spring and autumn 1956, the Circle held 12 major debates. The most prominent of these was the June 27 media outbreak.
The Poznan Uprising[]
Following the workers 'uprising in Poznań , Poland , on June 28 , the Hungarian Workers' Party (MDP) Central Command without Imre Nagy held an extraordinary meeting to jointly discuss the Polish events and the Petofi Circle a few days earlier. debate.
"Two unexpected things have happened lately, the Poznantilde event and the journalist debate," Mátyás Rákosi summed up at the meeting . "The Poznantilde provocation, according to the latest announcement, was linked to the fact that there were many foreigners in the city for the International Fair, and several days before the Americans dropped several parachutist armed divers in the frontier zone."
The meeting condemned the Poznan uprising and, at the same time, as a domestic conclusion, denounced - ie practically banned - Petőfi Circle. Anastasz Mikoján, who later arrived in Moscow to replace Rákosi , called the Petofi Circle "an ideological Poznantilde" at a Central Command meeting on July 17-18. The Interior Ministry also began to prepare for the arrest of some of the Circle's leading personalities, but the Soviet leadership realized that the MDP was no longer capable of such an unpopular action. In July, Rákosi was replaced by Ernő Gerő , who was equally unpopular but trustworthy .
The press debate[]
Indeed, the June 27 debate that triggered the stigma of the Circle produced events that were unprecedented in Hungary under communist rule. The power of the Communist leadership clique led by Rákosi was already cracked. "The Marxist spirit shines on a week-by-week basis in the DISZ Petőfi Circle debate," the party's Free People publicist chanted on June 24 .
The advertised venue, the Great Hall of the Officer's House (former casino casino) on Váci Street was not enough to accommodate those interested: nearly seven thousand people gathered in the hall, in the courtyard of the building and on the street. Speakers, writers, and journalists have spoken out in favor of the free press and Rakosi's overthrow.
For example, writer Tibor Déry said: "I think the source of our troubles is the lack of freedom ... as long as the individuals who embody these errors verbally and practically remain in place, it is the job of political criticism to get them off the ground as quickly as possible."
In addition to Imre Nagy and the need for freedom of the press, Tibor Tardos and Tibor Méray, previously removed from the Free People, also spoke at the meeting .
Autumn 1956 and retaliation[]
The Petofi Circle, already considered the main organized enemy by the Rákosi's , could not continue its activities until the fall of 1956 , when Rákosi was actually replaced. The intellectuals attending the meetings had already met with the intention of developing a revisionist communist government program led by Imre Nagy, but had no chance of leading the events of the Revolution and the War of Independence.
1956 . On the evening of October 22, the Circle meeting passed a resolution demanding the convening of the MDP Central Command, the exclusion of Rákosi from the board, the Parliament and the Presidential Council , and the inclusion of Imre Nagy in the work of the Command and Government.
All this strengthened the impetus of the outbreaking revolution, but others, such as the student body, MEFESZ , were already well ahead of the Petőfi Circle in the radicalization of their claims. 1956 . On October 23rd, the members of the Petofi Circle were still discussing at the university's Stork , when a few blocks further south, the crowd had already besieged the Hungarian Radio . Earlier the same day, Gábor Tánczos testified at a demonstration at a Bem statue, but for some reason did not speak.
When Imre Nagy came to power Petőfi Körös thought the events were over, and at first Dancers thought their role was fulfilled. The Petőfi Circle closed in the other direction, towards the forces of communist restoration. After Imre Nagy acknowledged that a national uprising was taking place on October 28 , Tánczos attended the organization of the Revolutionary Committee of the Hungarian Intellectuals at Eötvös Loránd University and signed his manifesto on behalf of the Petofi Circle. On November 3, the intention was to re-convene the Petofi Circle to help stabilize the government with authority, but the November 4 invasion thwarted that plan.
All this, as well as the Circle's pre-eminence of Imre Nagy, was enough to make the Circle a supporter of the revolution at the time of the retribution. Gábor Tánczos is a member of the Supreme Judicial People's Council, headed by Ferenc Vida , 1958 . On 18 August, he was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment in the Strictly Imprisoned Prison in Milwaukee . ( He received a pardon in the spring of 1962. )
Literature[]
- Disputes of the Petofi Circle Based on Authentic Protocols (Kelenföld Publishing House, ELTE, Múzsák, Institute of 1956, 1989-1994)
- I. Two economic debates
- II. philosopher Vita
- III. historian Discussion
- ARC. Guerrilla meeting - Press debate
- V. Economic Management - Technical Development - Garden Hungary?
- VI. Teachers' Discussion
- VII. Applied Arts Dispute - Medical Dispute
Articles here here and [http://www.rev.hu/rev/images/content/kiadvanyok/petofikor/petofikor_griffith.pdf here. ] See also Union of Working Youth